‘Lost hours’ during hospital handover delays add to 999 problems

AMBULANCE CREWS have been seen queuing to hand over patients to staff at Yorkshire hospitals in recent months.

Delays in the handover of emergency cases to A&E staff at York District Hospital saw paramedics waste an average of 14 working hours every day in May.

The tally of “lost hours” was the worst in the region, closely followed by that of Pinderfields Hospital in Wakefield (13 hours).

Guidelines state that handovers should take no longer than 15 minutes but crews are not allowed to leave until patients are signed over to the care of hospital doctors. Delays mean paramedics are not available to respond to fresh 999 calls.

Elsewhere in the region, Bradford Royal Infirmary (eight), Hull Royal Infirmary (seven) and Scarborough Hospital (seven) recorded lengthy handover delays each day in May.

Both Leeds St James’s Hospital and Leeds General Infirmary recorded an average of two lost hours per day due to handovers.

Dr David Macklin, executive director of operations at YAS, has said effective handovers between ambulance crews and hospital staff are “an integral part of delivering the best clinical care for patients”.

York Teaching Hospital NHS Foundation Trust, which runs York and Scarborough hospitals, said it had been unable to achieve the “expected performance levels” due to high attendance rates, delayed discharges and wards closed due to norovirus. The introduction of new roles on wards at both hospitals is aimed at helping to reduce delays.

Mid Yorkshire Hospitals NHS Trust, which runs Pinderfields, said delays are taken “very seriously” and work has been done to streamline the process.